As Nigeria celebrate her 55th Independence anniversary on Thursday, the
Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, has called on the Federal Government to
immediately return the Arabic Ajami script removed from the nation’s
naira notes by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
MURIC Director,
Prof. Isiaq Akintola, made the call on Wednesday in his independence
anniversary message to felicitate with the government and Nigerians.
“We
call for the reinstatement of the Arabic Ajami which was removed from
the naira by the last administration of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan after
subterranean pressure from some unpatriotic religious leaders. Nigerian
Muslims regard the removal as an act of hostility taken to spite
Muslims. We consider it as a step taken to satisfy a section of
Christians who had been secretly agitating for the removal of Arabic
graphics from some official emblems used in Nigeria.
“We see the
removal of Arabic from the naira as absolutely unnecessary and an action
taken by Jonathan to spite Nigerian Muslims. We hereby state without
any fear of contradiction that the use of Arabic as part of the graphics
on our emblems does not in any way portray the imposition of Islam or
its landmarks on Nigerians. This is so because Arabic stands parri pasu
with English graphics wherever the former is used. “English graphics
represent Westo-Christian civilisation while Arabic graphics symbolise
Islamic culture. Those who insist that Arabic must be removed from our
emblems nurse an agenda of domination by elimination”, Akintola said.
The
MURIC boss argued that whoever insists on the removal of Arabic Anjami
from the naira and from other emblems must accept the equal removal of
English graphics from the same materials, adding that after all English
is the language of the Bible as it is known in Nigeria and it is on the
nation’s naira and all other emblems.
He added: “By the way, apart
from massaging the ego of Goodluck Jonathan and satisfying the narrow
interest of Muslim-haters, what has Nigeria gained from removing Arabic
from the naira? We appeal to the Federal Government to redress this
wrong”.
But majority of secular oriented Nigerians it is better to leave all written words on the Naira notes to be as it is now, because Nigeria is a secular state not a religious state.
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